A foster carer who has looked after asylum-seeker children has spoken out about the “worrying” increase in hostility towards them.
Wendy Moss, from Sittingbourne, still keeps in touch with the family of a young boy who was in her care after fleeing the war in Syria.
She said: “From our point of view, we’re just dealing with vulnerable children – full stop.
“Everybody’s going to have an opinion, aren’t they?
“I understand why people are getting uptight because we are a small island and housing is very limited. School places are always oversubscribed.
“When you’re a foster carer, you get the call saying there’s a young man who’s come into the country, he needs somewhere safe and warm, where he can be fed and looked after.
“We just do the best we can for them.”
The Home Office released new figures last week, revealing more than 24,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to the UK since the start of the year.
Eight men died earlier this month after a boat crashed into rocks off the coast of Ambleteuse in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France.
Six people were taken to hospital, including a 10-month-old baby suffering from hypothermia.
Earlier this year, there were arrests throughout the country following violence sparked by false claims about the identity of a teenager charged with killing three young girls during a knife attack in Southport.
Police in riot gear were deployed to areas in Canterbury, Chatham and Dover amid concerns of violent demonstrations.
“It does worry me,” the mum-of-two said. “With the riots, it all started with misinformation on the internet. That is a big issue now.
“You see false news being passed around and people are just willing to believe everything they see rather than checking it with a credible source.”
Despite the negativity surrounding this, Wendy says she has never shied away from the opportunity of helping asylum seekers.
The 56-year-old and her husband Richard decided to start fostering in 2012.
They have since looked after eight children, one of which came to them when he was eight and is now 16.
“We both enjoyed raising our own and all the parenting that it involved,” she explained.
“We wanted to give a home to someone less fortunate, there are many who haven’t had a good start in life or have had traumatic backgrounds.
“When our birth children got to secondary school age, they were more mature and we could discuss it with them because we wanted them to be involved.”
In 2013, Wendy took on a 14-year-old boy who was fleeing the war in Syria.
He already had family who lived in the UK but because of legalities, had to stay with someone while paperwork was sorted.
She only looked after him for a week but says his family were forever grateful.
“It was quite a traumatic experience for him coming over and being separated from his brothers,” Wendy added.
“However, they were all reunited and are now happily living near London.
“We have been to each other’s houses – the family have treated us like royalty and gave us lots of Syrian food.
“Now and then his father contacts my husband and asks how we are getting on.”
The following year, Wendy decided to look after another asylum seeker.
It was a young boy from Afghanistan, who stayed with them for eighteen months.
He didn’t have a family in the country and eventually was moved onto a local authority placement.
Wendy works with Next Step Fostering, part of the National Fostering Group – the largest independent UK fostering agency.
They say Kent currently needs 120 additional carers due to a huge increase in children coming into the county.
“We wanted to give a home to someone less fortunate, there are many who haven’t had a good start in life or have had traumatic backgrounds.”
From May 2022 to 2024, the number of children in care has gone from 1,634 to 2,945 – a jump of 80%.
If you would like to find out more about how to foster, click here.
Wendy says the best thing about fostering is being able to notice little changes in the child you are looking after.
“It’s very rewarding to watch that transition,” she explained. “They first come to you and are unsure or not trusting of adults.
“Then they become confident and have a bright future ahead of them.
“You have to remember it’s not a job that you do nine to five. It’s all the time and non-stop.
“We get a lot of training and support throughout. If you’re thinking about it, definitely give it a go.”
